How to Design, Build, and Finish a Woodworking Project

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There is a lot more involved in the woodworking process than there might seem at first glance. Most of us skip through each process not really thinking about how each step affects the overall project. This article will teach you how to think through and perform the whole project, from beginning to end.

Transfer the idea from your mind to paper. Sketch it, then draw it in greater detail as the idea and your decision to make the piece firm up. You can draw them to scale, but you may find that full scale is a more comforting thought when it comes to the dimensions.

Let the material sit overnight. There are many stresses inside a piece of wood but, when sawn, these stresses are relieved. You may not see it right away, but you may be surprised at just how much a piece of wood can move.

Make sure your joints are not too tight. Glue will make a tenon expand so it is almost impossible to insert it into its mortise. Making mortise and tenon joints properly takes time and patience. Try cutting a tenon thick and use a rabbet plane to get it to the proper thickness.

Before applying a stain to your project, test different products and processes on scrap wood of the same type as the project. Perform the complete finish process on a scrap of each type of wood so you will know exactly what the project will look like when complete.

After determining which product and process looks best, do not skip or change any part of the process used on the scrap, when it comes time to finish the project.

Small differences in the finishing process can make a drastic change in the look of the complete project.

Perform a post finish process. Now it is time to really make your project shine, but do not hurry to start this process. Wait until the finish is completely cured before starting. Some products will cure overnight; others take weeks.

Buff or polish your finish to get the silky smooth look and feel of the project surface. Most people will rub the surface of a project to get an impression of how well the finish was completed. There are many oils, powders, and polishes that will create that mirror finish often desired. Read the different finishing books and brochures to get an understanding of the process.

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 14 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has also been viewed 26,882 times.